Aussie pub manager order to pay back $60k compensation after shock act (2025)

A hotel manager has been ordered to pay back more than $60,000 she received in workers compensation after she was caught on the job at a rival venue.

Jonalee Magtoto Kopko made a psychological injury claim just weeks after she was employed as venue manager for Twin Willows Hotel in Bass Hill,Sydney's west, in 2022.

Despite saying she was unable to work, the pub's owner later learned she was working at Cambridge Tavern in nearby Fairfield while pocketing the compensation payments, reported The Daily Telegraph.

Twin Willows is owned by pub tycoon Arthur Laundy through his Laundy Trading Pty Ltd arm and the compensation payments were paid by its insurer Hospitality Industry Insurance.

The Personal Injury Commission ordered Ms Kopko repay the insurer $50,000 within 60 days, but she failed to make the payment and the amount has risen to $64,253.

Ms Kopko was found out after pubgoers spotted her working at the rival pub and word got back to Mr Laundy.

'This was in approximately October 2022, when her workers compensation claim was ongoing and payments were being made for incapacity,' Mr Laundy told the commission in a witness statement.

She was also seen on CCTV at the Cambridge Tavern in the gaming room.

According to national data, compensation claims for psychological injuries have exploded in recent years.

A SafeWork Australia report from last year found that they had increase 37 per cent since 2017-18 and made up 9 per cent of all worker's compensation claims.

SafeWork said the median compensation paid for mental health conditions was more than three times that for physical injuries, while claimants were off work for more than four times longer than for physical injuries.

In NSW alone, claims for psychological injuries have doubled and represent 12 per cent of total compensation claims but make up 38 per cent of total payouts.

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey wants to crackdown on frivolous claims and said it was pushing up insurance premiums for businesses across the board.

He has proposed cases must be heard by the NSW Industrial Relations Committee before any compensation is agreed to.

Hospitality Industry Insurance chief executive Angus McCullagh told the newspaper the decision in Ms Kopko's case was groundbreaking and set a precedent regarding the repayment of compensation.

'Workers comp is there to support people who genuinely can't work, helping them to recover and return to work,' he said.

Sydney

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